Guerrilla Tactics Replace Genial Jingles In Soft-drink Wars

An Industry Pushing Taste Turns To Marketing With A Vengeance

ATLANTA — Life used to be so simple in the soft-drink industry when Coca-Cola sought to teach the world to sing and Pepsi just wanted you to join its generation.

Now, there are taste tests and statistics and finger-pointing surveys. The genial jingles have been replaced by guerrilla warfare--soda style.

``Remember not too long ago when those angelic children with halos were standing on the mountain singing of peace, brotherhood and harmony?`` said Jesse Meyers, publisher of Beverage Digest and an expert on the soft-drink industry.

``Well, now those kids are pushing each other off that mountain.``

Pepsi has hired Michael Jackson and Geraldine Ferraro, among others, to hawk its wares. Bill Cosby peers through your television screen, telling you how ludicrous it is even to consider that Pepsi could taste better than Coke. Seven-Up, the leading noncola drink but still looking for an edge, is returning to its ``Uncola`` commercials that were such hits more than a decade ago.

The grocery-store shelves are chock-full of selections with the advent of diet and caffeine-free drinks. New entries such as Cherry Coke, the bottled version of the 1950s soda fountain favorite, and Pepsi`s juice-added Slice will crowd the shelves even more.

The cola wars--7-Up and other noncolas prefer soft-drink wars--are heating up again.

The soft-drink industry is one of the most lucrative in the world. According to Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter, it is a $23 billion dollar industry each year at the wholesale level, making each market share point worth an estimated $150 million.

Consider this startling statistic: the average American gulps down more than 43 gallons of soft drinks each year.

While consumption of milk, beer, wine and liquor is down, consumption of soft drinks continues to rise. In 1984, the soft-drink industry grew 5.5 percent from 1983.

``The pot is getting bigger, and the war is going to get a little noisier,`` Meyers said from his office in Greenwich, Conn. ``The industry that talked about taste and refreshment is now setting a marketing example of hostility and vengeance.

``There is much tension in the marketplace, and all indications are we ain`t seen nothin` yet.``

Coca-Cola remains the top corporate player in the soft-drink industry. and the Coke brand, the company`s flagship soft drink, holds the No. 1 ranking.

That iron-clad lead, however, was dented in 1984 by Pepsi. According to the latest Beverage Digest statistics, Coke holds a 21.7 market share to 18.8 for Pepsi.

With Pepsi closing in on Coke, Coca-Cola plans to push its top drink a little harder.

``Coke`s been the underpinning, the mainstay for all the rest of what we do, but it suffered from the fact that it didn`t get the level of prime attention that it should have,`` said Brian G. Dyson, president of Coca-Cola USA.

``We`ve been doing so many things with so many other brands--Diet Coke, caffeine-frees, Tab and Sprite--that brand Coke was left to fend for itself somewhat. Coke needs more attention.``

Coca-Cola, which for nearly 100 years refrained from using the name

``Coke`` on any products other than its mainstay, has broken tradition in recent years with Diet Coke and now Cherry Coke, in addition to the caffeine- free versions of Coke and Diet Coke.

Pepsi has taken an aggressive marketing approach with the celebrity ads, notably the series with teen pop star Jackson and the familial one with former vice presidential candidate Ferraro, in which Pepsi is never actually mentioned.

The competition is even hotter for third place. Coke and Pepsi stand head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd, but there is big money to be made down below.

Pepsi switched from a saccharin-NutraSweet blend to 100 percent NutraSweet in its Diet Pepsi before Coca-Cola made a similar move with Diet Coke and told the world about it. The move led to a series of claims and counterclaims between the two companies in recent months.

Coke plans to take the offensive this year, using comparative commercials that say consumers in taste tests believe Diet Coke and Tab taste better than Diet Pepsi.

The strategy has come full circle.

``When Pepsi challenged Coke, the Coke people said the Pepsi Challenge was a waste of time,`` Meyers recalled. ``Now, Diet Coke is challenging Diet Pepsi.``